


Do You Hear the People Sing?

by bananaboatt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Background Relationships, Light Angst, M/M, Magical Elements, OT12 - Freeform, cause im trash and i wanted to write (1) one fic w all of them, every ship that isnt xiuchen is background, i tagged it as mature for swearing nd possible gross stuff, mentions of child abuse, nothing too crazy, the whole gangs here, xiumins parents r not the best in this srry abt tht
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-07 15:21:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14083842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananaboatt/pseuds/bananaboatt
Summary: Fuck. Jongdae was fucked.He was supposed to just kill the prince not grow some sort of conscious and kidnap (if he could even call it that, the prince has decided to come with him very willingly), him instead.orJongdae is an assassin sent to kill the crown prince and instead takes him back alive to meet all the rest of his friends.Chaos and revolutions ensue.





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! so this is my first exo fic (im a lil nervous abt posting it) and i went w xiuchen bc those r my boys. this fic is going to be around 3-4 parts, including an epilogue so i should have it done very soon! i didn't proof read this so if u find any mistakes please let me know! (the title is absolutely a les mis reference)

The castle seemed quiet tonight, despite the party the King and Queen decided to throw. Even the front was poorly guarded. The four guards on the outer wall were easily taken care of by a distraction only one Byun Baekhyun could've provided and Jongdae was able to sneak in unnoticed.

Now, he stands looking up at the castle, not the slightest bit intimidated by the scary looking building. If he were a different man, here for a different purpose, that might have been another story. The two identical towers on each end of the castle loomed the highest and Jongdae set off for the left one. According to their information, the Crown Prince was locked up there.

Jongdae  _almost_  felt bad for the Crown Prince, the poor bastard was never let out of the castle due to an accident the prince and his brother suffered from as a child. He was only ever seen next to his parents, when they wanted him to be presented to the public. They always claimed it was for his safety, but the King and Queen are cruel people.

The Onisite Kingdom has been ruled by the Kim family for many generations. And while the family had produced good heirs to the throne, the current ones were some of the worst. The prince, however not as cruel as his parents, was guilty by association and Jongdae was assigned here to kill him, to serve as a warning for the revolution to follow.

He sneaks in through the servant's quarters, easily blending in, adorned with the common servant's garb. Before he has another chance to sneak off, he's scolded by someone in dark red robes for being late.  _Probably a royal servant_ , he notes as he tries to at least look ashamed.

A platter is shoved into his hands, knocking him out of his thoughts, and pushed towards the exit, the demand to go serve the guests at the party still ringing in his ear. He rolls his eyes, but goes along with it. If he finds another royal servant he could easily knock them out and steal their robes, that would certainly make getting into Prince Minesok's room a lot easier. He makes his way to the ballroom and makes a quick note of all the exits.

He scans the room for the prince and finds him easily. He's draped in navy blue robes with little starbursts of gold, complimenting his fair complexion. The crown sat crookedly on his head and despite what most would assume to be a disinterested look, his eyes were sparkling, taking in all the people.

Jongdae feels a bit of pity rise in his gut for the man as he watches the light slowly dull, but he forces it down. If he was going to be the one to kill him, he couldn't be feeling like this.

He plays his part, serves the guests, takes the rude comments from the other nobility with a straight face. Sometimes, if the guest is too rude he'll accidentally spill a glass of whatever fancy alcohol they decided to serve on them. He was truly trying to make the best of this situation, sometimes he even catches the prince's eye, and smirks when he tries and fails to hide his laughter.

Halfway through, when Jongdae finally grows bored of messing with the patrons, does he notice the prince quietly slipping out of the ballroom. Jongdae smirks to himself, it was time to get the ball rolling.

**-+-**

Minseok was absolutely bored with the ball his parents forced him to go to. Though he was happy to see so many people, the novelty wore off after they opened their mouths. He never understood why nobility felt the need to be rude. They should be kind, for their people, and for their country, just the opposite of whatever his parents were.

It was only halfway through the ball that he makes his escape, ready to retire for the night. The walls decorated with gold seemed dim as he made his way back to his room, he knew once he reached his quarters he was going to be locked up again. He was only at the ball for show, after all the King and Queen just couldn't not show off their heir.

The tower was essentially holed off from the rest of the castle, and it was like its own mini castle. His parents provided enough for Minseok to survive and not grow bored, but he quickly grew restless with his life. He wanted to be with his people, he wanted to help them, he wanted to reverse the damage his parents caused. He wanted change, but he didn't know what else he could do until he was in power.

He sighs when he reaches the bottom of the stairs leading to his room. There were truly too many and his feet were already killing him from having been stuffed into the dress shoes his father demanded he wear. He begins humming quietly as he makes his way up the stairs and nods at the two guards waiting around for him.

He throws his crown on his desk once he makes it to his room and promptly begins to undress, desperate for a warm shower. He barely has his sash off when he's pushed against the wall.

He lets out a small yelp that's immediately muffled by a gloved hand and winces as he feels the definite shape of a blade press into his back.

"Hello, Prince Minseok," The voice coos, sickly sweet. Minseok's heartbeat picks up and he struggles against the heavy body pinning him against the wall.

"What do you want from me?" Minseok asks, voice quiet, resigned.

"Ah, I'm so glad you asked. You see, my Prince, the people aren't very happy with you or your family." The blade begins to move up his back, closer to his hairline, and Minseok represses the urge to shiver. He must do a bad job of it because he hears the man behind him chuckle.

"We think, the best way to get back at the Royal Family for their crimes against the people they lead should be, to end your life."

The tip of the dagger stops halfway up the side of his neck. If the man were to shift his hand forward more he would easily be able to slit Minseok's throat.

"Would," Minseok pauses and licks his lips, dry from his heavy breathing, and tries to collect his scattered thoughts, "Would the people be truly happy if I were to die?"

A second passes, then two. The weight of the assassin falls off his back and Minseok has no time to think before he's turned to face the man who will most likely kill him.

Minseok acknowledges the man as the servant who had made him laugh many times throughout the night. Many servants came and went so quickly in the palace, he never would've guessed that this man, who seemed so innocent, would be the one to hold a blade to his neck and threating his life.

"Yes, are you prepared to die for your people?" The man questions him, his face rather nonchalant, as if asking about the weather.

Minseok doesn't hesitate and nods quickly as he stares the assassin dead in his eyes. "All I ever wanted—" he pauses and clears his throat, hoping to rid his voice of the emotions that seemed to be suffocating him, “—was for my people to be happy and if you have to kill me for that, then so be it."

The man scans his face, keeping one arm firmly across Minseok's chest to keep him from escaping, the other fiddling with the dagger. Minseok maintains eye contact despite being absolutely terrified and thinks at least he's going to go out being brave.

The man swears underneath of his breath and looks away from him.

"You're in luck then, Prince. Instead of dying tonight, you'll be coming with me." 

**-+-**

Fuck. Jongdae was _fucked_.

He was supposed to just kill the prince not grow some sort of conscious and kidnap (if he could even call it that, the prince has decided to come with him very willingly), him instead.

It’s just, the prince was willing to give up his life so easily for his people and it made something in his gut churn. The prince was supposed to be an asshole, a prick, a selfish monster, like his parents, not… whatever _this_ was.

The prince was silent as they made their way out of the tower, the only belongings he took with him was an old photograph, a cloak, and a set of normal clothes for him to change into.

The two guards that resided with the prince in the tower missing still, Jongdae only hopes they’re still knocked out in the linen closet he had ended up dumping their bodies in.

“How do you plan to get out?” he murmurs, it doesn’t sound sarcastic, but genuinely curious.

Jongdae pauses and glances around at the decorations that adorn the upper walls of the tower.

Shit.

According to Kyungsoo, there was only one way in and out of the tower and that was through the entrance in the castle. He alone, would easily be able to sneak out, but taking the Prince Minseok with him? He probably wouldn’t last a full minute.

“Well, I don’t think I thought that far ahead, considering I was supposed to murder you.” The prince laughs, startling Jongdae, despite it being soft and stifled.

“I have a way we can sneak out. It’s a secret passage that doesn’t show up on any of the maps. Somehow, my parents haven’t found out about it or else they would’ve had it sealed off.” Jongdae squints at the dark-haired man, debating on whether he should trust him.

The prince rolls his eyes and grabs Jongdae’s hand, “Come on, it’s under a carpet in the library.”

The library (if you could even call it that), was impossibly small. Only three bookcases lined the walls, stuffed to the brim with books, with a small desk in the middle of the room.

“It was kind of a homemade library; my parents didn’t want me learning anything without someone from their staff watching me. I think my tutor left books with me on purpose, so I could fill it up.” He stands in front of the bookcase on the leftmost wall, running a hand across the spines of a few books.

“My parents would probably have me thrown in our dungeon if they knew of this, I’m not allowed to think for myself.” Jongdae feels the familiar pang of pity bubble up in his stomach and wills it down, he would not feel pity for him, this is what got him in this situation to begin with.  

He stands there, looking at the books for a few more seconds before he turns towards Jongdae and smiles.

“Help me move this desk, will you?”

Jongdae snorts, “What, the crown prince can’t even lift a tiny desk by himself?” The prince waves him off and Jongdae rolls his eyes, but still moves to help.

“Call me Minseok, I don’t think the formalities suit me all that much as I’m literally running away with you and it’s obvious you don’t like them. So, Minseok.” Jongdae wonders if he should bother with his name, he doesn’t even know if it’s really all that important to exchange names at this point.

 “Also, this table may look small, but it’s heavy and was quite the struggle to move in inconspicuously and by myself.”

Jongdae scoffs and moves towards the tiny desk, chest puffed out. Minseok makes a show out of stepping out of his way, Jongdae bends down and attempts to lift and— _holy shit this desk is so fucking heavy_. Jongdae almost topples over, but quickly recovers, pressing a palm to the top of the desk.

“What kind of wood is this desk made out of?” He wheezes, causing Minseok to just shake his head.

“This is why I asked for a hand, so please, let me help you.” He smiles and nudges Jongdae into a better position to lift.

Together, the desk is lifted easily and Minseok moves back the carpet, revealing what looks like an entrance to a cellar.

“It’s a three and a half mile walk southeast, give or take. It’ll take us to a back alley that’s close to the forest. I’m going to assume that wherever you’re taking me isn’t necessarily near the capital city.” Minseok pulls out an old looking key from a chain hidden inside his pant leg and unlocks the door.

Jongdae makes a face when the musty smell of the tunnel hits him and glances back at Minseok wearily.

“I’ve traveled this tunnel many times, I’ll go first if it’ll make you more comfortable, Assassin?” He trails off, eyes leaving his face and looks at the dark entrance into what was most likely the underbelly of the castle.

Before he can answer, the prince breaks out into a wide smile and jumps feet first into the hole. Jongdae feels his heart almost jump out of his chest and swears, quickly jumping down the hole after him.

In more ways than one, this prince was going to be the death of him.

**-+-**

Minseok grimaces as they wade through the calf high water. Despite coming down here multiple times he always hated this part, it was gross, and he really didn’t know what was in this water.

The light from the lantern the assassin was carrying cast a warm glow on the walls of the tunnel and despite the increase in the water depth it made Minseok feel safe.

“So, Assassin, you never gave me a name.” He teases and has to physically restrain himself from sucking in a breath as he turns to face him. The glow from the lantern highlights some of the man’s best features and Minseok almost regrets teasing him. _He looks so handsome…_

“Your Majesty, what if I don’t want to give you my name?” He says, after what looks like careful thinking to Minseok.

“I guess that’s fair, I just wanted something to call you other than Assassin.” Minseok answers honestly, he has no real reason to lie to the man.

The assassin in question just shrugs his shoulders and that’s the end of the conversation. Minseok felt unnaturally comfortable with the man who had threatened his life, but it was obvious the sentiment did not carry over as he watched the man awkwardly have some sort of internal battle with himself.

It’s quiet, other than the water dripping from the roof of the tunnel, before the man speaks again, “You can call me Chen.”

Minseok smiles, it wasn’t a battle, not really, but it feels like a victory.

The rest of the trip through the tunnel is spent making small talk, mainly on Minseok’s part, Chen only makes small noises sometimes to show he’s listening. Realistically he knows, it’s not smart to be getting comfortable around Chen, but he can’t help it. This is the first time something exciting had happened to him in a very, _very_ , long time. He feels like he did when he was a kid playing with his brother again.

Minseok sighs in relief once he sees the familiar view of the back alley, glad to be out of the gross water. It seems like Chen shares the same sentiment considering how his face lights up at the moonlight they can see from their position.

“So, how long until we get to where the rest of your guys are?” Minseok asks, as he stretches his arms over his head.

“It’s going to take a whole week. My provisions will probably be stretched a bit, considering I have a whole extra body to feed, but I’m hoping we won’t run into any trouble on that front. I’m more worried about what’s going to happen when we get to where we’re going.” Chen tells him and Minseok considers his words.

He should’ve seen it coming honestly, Chen was sent to kill him and arriving with a very much alive prince instead of a dead one, probably wouldn’t go over well with the other revolutionaries.

“Would you believe me if I said I wanted to help you and the other revolutionaries?” Minseok asks softly. It was the truth, he wanted to help so badly. He never had the resources to do so in the castle, now he was free from underneath his parents rule. He could do whatever he wanted.

Chen shakes his head but doesn’t answer, instead heading in the direction of the forest. He feels his spirits fall a bit, it wasn’t a direct answer, but it was enough of one.

He steels his resolve and chases after the man, he’d just have to prove it to him somehow. Falling in step easily with him, Minseok takes time to glance around at the town he barely gets to see. He takes in the sight of all the buildings on the cobblestone path, even this late at night Minseok finds himself completely enraptured with the city he used to explore as a child. One day he wants to be able to walk amongst the people here, in the daylight. He hopes this isn’t the last time he gets to see his home city.

The forest, it turns out, is a lot more intimidating at night and the prince begins to shrink in on himself. He hasn’t been in the forest since the accident with his brother and finds that as much as he thought he was over this crippling anxiety, he is, in fact, not.

At all.

If Chen notices his breathing pick up, he doesn’t say anything and trudges on into the forest, Minseok having no choice but to follow, not wanting to be left behind. They walk, to the point where Minseok’s feet ache, but he doesn’t notice, not with his heart pounding in his ears.

He doesn’t know how much time has passed since they started walking or when Chen decided to stop, but a faint tugging on his sleeve brought him back to the present and out of his mind.

“We’re going to stay here for the night. Get some rest, we will be leaving as soon as possible, but I can’t have slowing us down and being dead on your feet, got it?” Minseok nods and scans the forest floor for the most comfortable looking spot to rest his head.

In the end, he ends up resting propped up against a tree trunk, in between the thick roots on the ground. He watches Chen settle for a spot a little in front of him and watches as he falls asleep as soon as his head hits the root.

 Minseok is sure his jaw is hanging open, how did he?

 Minseok giggled to himself, making himself as comfortable as possible before he closed his eyes and willed himself to try and sleep.

**-+-**

 The first two days went by quickly, both moving on the same schedule almost. There were a few instances in which the prince, seemed too dazed to even notice that they were supposed to be resting and as much as Jongdae didn’t want to care, it was starting to become a little alarming.

Jongdae also finds himself succumbing to the small talk, he allows himself to open up a bit more around Minseok. It’s hard not too, when the scenery all pretty much looks the same and all they have is each other.

It all seemed to come to a head on the morning of the fourth day. Jongdae, realistically should’ve seen it coming. The day before, Minseok’s spacing out seemed to be worse and for most of the day it was Jongdae initiating the conversation between them.

It had gotten so bad, that he verbalized his worry and Minseok just waved him off with a tight-lipped smile. Jongdae made sure to stop early and had Minseok relax while he went to go find enough wood to start a fire for the night.

Minseok seemed more engaged during dinner, they chatted easily and Jongdae, foolishly thought that it was just the walking. They’d been doing it for days, maybe he just needed a break.

However, the fourth morning Jongdae woke to screaming. Specifically, Minseok’s. Jongdae has his dagger out before he even opens his eyes and immediately moves to the prince’s side, to see what’s causing him so much distress.

When he notices no immediate threat, he drops the dagger and rushes to wake him, shaking him gently.  

“Minseok, come on, it’s just a nightmare.” He says softly and when Minseok opens his eyes and presses his face into Jongdae’s chest, he just pats his head in what he hopes is a soothing manner. Minseok shoulders shake and he wets Jongdae’s shirt with his tears as Jongdae holds him.

It takes a while for Minseok to collect himself, but Jongdae can’t really bring himself to mind, not when whatever it was that hurt him like this seems so fresh. Minseok pulls himself away from his hold and wipes his eyes, before finally looking at Jongdae again.

“Can I—” Minseok cuts himself off with a tiny hiccup, “—tell you about my nightmare?”

“Only if you want too, don’t feel obligated to tell me.” Jongdae blurts, waving his arms around frantically. Minseok laughs, then a sniffle.

“It’s fine, I trust you.”

Jongdae lets out a strangled noise, somewhere between pleased and disbelieving, Minseok ignores him in favor of digging through the little rucksack he brought with him. When he withdraws the old photo, it hits him. The nightmare was probably about his brother. He holds out the old photo for Jongdae, who takes it gingerly.

In the photo, there is obviously Minseok, a whole lot younger than he is now, probably around seven or eight. Next to him, there’s another boy, not glaringly older, but older.

Jongdae brings the photo closer to his face, inspecting the other face closely. The face almost looks familiar, it looks like-

“That’s my brother, his name was Junmyeon, he was the one who was supposed to take over the throne from my parents.” Minseok informs him, scooting closer so he can look at the photo too.

“When I was eight, I convinced my brother to sneak out with me into the forest. This one, obviously.” Jongdae, in a moment of either bravery or stupidity reaches out and one of the prince’s hands in his and squeezes.

“We didn’t have any guards with us and bandits attacked. My brother, he tried to protect us, but we were kids. We couldn’t defend ourselves. I couldn’t help him at all, I just sat there laying in my own blood as they took him. I heard him screaming and I didn’t do anything.” His voice is thick and it’s obvious he’s struggling not to cry again.

As Minseok continues to tell his story he begins to curl in on himself, making him look impossibly small. It’s wrong, Jongdae thinks. The prince always seemed to be so cheerful and curious, to see him sad like this. It was a little heartbreaking.

“I was found, by a really nice old lady. She knew who I was obviously and brought me back to the castle. My parents…were mad, they blamed me. _I_ blamed me. My parents, they just completely changed after that. They were crueler to me, not that I could really blame them.”

Something uncomfortable curls in Jongdae’s gut. He doesn’t like where he can see the story going, he doesn’t like that Minseok actually had to live through this.

“One time, I was locked in a dungeon for almost two weeks. By the time they came to check on me I was so dehydrated I thought I was hallucinating when I was taken to the royal doctors. I should have died out here, it should have been me, not him.”

He doesn’t know what to say to comfort him. He doesn’t even know if there’s anything he could say that truly would, so he just pulls him in and hugs him, trying to squash the anger he feels towards the king and queen down.

“It’s not your fault you never should’ve been blamed for this.” Jongdae mumbles into his hair, Minseok shakes his head.

“No, I do-”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it. You were a kid, you never would’ve known that would happen.” He cuts him off, anger flaring. Minseok shrugs his shoulders and looks away from him. It’s a subtle way of letting him know the conversation is over, even though Jongdae wants to convince him.

Jongdae looks at Minseok, takes the time to truly study him. He can see the dark circles underneath of his eyes, making him look way older than he is. The shine in his eyes gone and his black hair falls limply against his forehead messily. He doesn’t look like a prince at all, he looks just like a normal man and he can’t believe that only a few days ago he wanted to murder this man. Now, it’s quite the opposite. He realizes that along with the people they rule over, the King and Queen also wronged their son.

He wants to protect Minseok, he decides. He will protect Minseok.

**-+-**

Minseok somehow feels lighter and heavier after telling Chen about his brother. He doesn’t know if he feels the relief that’s supposed to come with telling something to someone that he’s kept bottled up for so long.

It’s, an odd feeling to say the least.

 It’s the first time he’s ever told someone the story, everyone at the castle who spoke of the incident was fired on the spot. Minseok himself has been shamed and isolated into secrecy.

Who was he to tell when he had no one?

It probably should be alarming, how quickly he grew to trust Chen. It could all be a joke to the other man, he could quite literally be leading him to his own death, laughing at the naïve prince when he wasn’t looking.

_But_ , he thinks, _he seems so genuine despite his secretive nature and went out of his way to make me comfortable._   

Minseok glances at the man, who now walks beside him instead of ahead of him. They’ve been silent ever since they set off, but it’s obvious to the prince that the other had a lot he was thinking about.

Suddenly, Chen catches his eye. Flustered, but not quite done studying the rebel in front of him, he stares back.

“Hey Minseok?” Chen has this look in his eye, one that has Minseok groaning internally. “What is it this time?” He’s resigned himself to this, he schools his face into what he hopes is a blank look.

“What do you call a deer with no eyes?”

He sighs, “What?”

“No eye-deer.” A giggle follows, just like always and Minseok has to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

He stops giggling, only for a minute before he bursts into another fit of giggles. “You must be proud of yourself, huh?” Chen answers in more giggles and Minseok struggles to keep the smile off his face.

The air around them feels physically lighter after that, as Chen tries and fails miserably at telling jokes. Despite Minseok lightly bullying Chen for his bad jokes he truly appreciated them, the trip through the forest had been rather uneventful (aside from his nightmare) so far and he often found himself bored.

“Chen…” he starts, cutting off another round of giggles from the other man. Chen glances at him, curiously and Minseok smiles a bit sheepishly.

“Pardon my curiosity, but can I ask how you got into this stuff?” Chen seems to think about the question before shrugging his shoulders. “You want to ask me about the revolutionary stuff, I’m assuming?” 

Minseok nods, feeling a bit ashamed at his own curiosity. Chen waves his hand at the guilty look and smiles, “It’s nothing to worry about I’ll answer all your questions.”

“A lot of it had to do with my parents, they hated yours, we grew up constantly hearing about all the terrible things that happened that your parents caused. Me and my brother ended up befriending some of the people that started the whole revolutionary uprising thing and here we are.” Minseok nods another question already on the tip of his tongue.

“Can you tell me about your brother?”

“Ah, Jongin.” Chen launches into story after story about his younger brother and Minseok finds himself giggling. He tells him about the time that he died his brother’s hair pink as a prank and in retaliation he woke up one day with grey hair. And how his brother loved dogs so much that Chen snuck three of them into the house and by the time their parents had found out they could only scold the both of them because they were too attached.

He feels a little bitter, wanting to be able to have more experiences with Junmyeon than he was given, but he pushes it down. He was the one who asked after all and he wouldn’t let this bitterness ruin Chen’s happiness.

“How old are you?”

“23.”

“Oh, I’m 24. You should call me hyung.”

“Fuck off, Minseok.”

He giggles at the remark and continues to shoot questions at the man. Chen indulges him until they have to stop around sunset and gather wood for a campfire. There provisions had begun running low yesterday and Minseok feels extremely guilty, knowing that Chen would’ve had enough food if he hadn’t brought him along, so he declines dinner saying he was still full from their meager lunch.

Chen gives him a look and slips him some food anyways.

Minseok tries to hide his red cheeks, blaming it on the warmth from the fire.

It’s only when the campfire has dwindled, the embers glowing, does Minseok ask one more question. “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

It’s a quiet question, his insecurity seeping into the question.

“No, no I don’t.”

This time Minseok can’t find something to blame his rapid beating heart and red cheeks on.

**-+-**

The fifth and sixth days pass without too much fanfare and Jongdae feels like he’s going crazy. The forest is always the worst part of the trip back to his hometown, they should really move somewhere closer to the capital if they were planning an uprising.

Jongdae almost cries in relief once he sees a clearing, one that he’s made himself all too familiar with in his twenty-three years of life, and actually jogs to make it to the edge of the forest. He hears Minseok behind him, running to join him.

“Home?” He asks and Jongdae nods.

“Yeah, home.”

He lets out a sigh, happy to be seeing his home again. Slowly, worry begins to fill him as he thinks about seeing his friends again.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. I’m taking you to see the other revolutionaries first and then I’ll take you to my place, okay?” The prince nods, eyes not leaving the sight in front of him.

_What a strange prince this one is_ , Jongdae thinks as he marches forward.

“Do you think anybody’s going to recognize me?” The question has him pausing, glancing at the man next to him. Even in his dirtied clothes, it’s still blatantly obvious that Minseok is the prince. One that the people here, don’t like very much.

“Ah shit, we need to cover your face.” They take a moment, both sifting through their bags, hoping they can find something to cover his face with. Jongdae produces some sort of bandana and hands it over, while Minseok pulls out the cloak he packed.

He wraps the dark bandana around his head, so it covers his mouth and Jongdae realizes how pretty he looks, his skin only a bit sun kissed from traveling stands out nicely in contrast with the dark color of the cloth. He swallows and glances away from the prince, scolding himself in his head.

_NO, no. Jongdae you cannot like him, I will kick my own ass—_

“Okay. I’m ready.” Minseok’s voice cuts through his thoughts, Jongdae glances over his outfit critically. It won’t be enough to not draw curious glances, but it’ll be enough to hide his identity.

They make their way through the town, only stopping when someone tries to talk with him about his journey. He manages to evade those people for the most part, with short nods and waves in their direction when they call out to him.

The ones who don’t come up to him stare and it’s undoubtedly because of Minseok. His outfit hid his face, but it also drew more attention, especially being with Jongdae. He swears and grabs Minseok by the hand, hurrying them along to get away from their prying eyes.

Minseok stumbles, but follows quietly, keeping his eyes down. The place where they meet is considered an abandoned house.  It’s technically not, considering that five out of their eleven men live there, but the towns people keep quiet and in exchange they help around the town when they can.

The outside of the home still looked rough, they had to keep up appearances after all. But, on the inside the boys really made it look like a place you could settle down in. Which, is a high achievement for five barely-adult, men.

Once they make it outside of the building, Jongdae lets go of his hand and tries to act like he doesn’t miss the warmth it provided. “So, I want you to stay behind me, okay? They won’t kill me, but they will most likely try and kill you, so I will be your human shield until we calm them down enough to get them to listen.”

Jongdae smiles and hopes it looks reassuring, cause he sure as hell is not feeling confident in the situation they’re currently in. He sees Minseok’s eyebrows fly up and that’s all the confirmation he can get before the front door is opening and a hyper-active younger brother is barreling into his arms.

“Hyung, you’re home!” Jongin says excitedly, Jongdae can’t help his smile. “You’ve missed a lot, Suho and Yifan finally told each other how they feel and Sehun made a fool out of himself—who’s this?” Jongdae tenses and pushes his brother lightly, so he’s off him.

“Can you go and gather everyone for a meeting? I’d rather only explain this once if I can get away with it.” Jongdae sighs. Jongin nods, confused, but still heads inside to gather up the rest of the members.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Minseok is in front of him now, looking into his eyes. “No. Yes. I trust you a little bit now, I just don’t want them seeing you as a bad person, cause you’re not, you’re different than your parents.”

Jongdae isn’t sure, but he swears Minseok is smiling at him by the way his eyes crinkle around the edges and Jongdae feels warm.

“Only a little bit?” Jongdae rolls his eyes and shoves Minseok’s shoulder playfully, trying to hide his smile.

Jongdae leads the way silently into the house and heads straight for the living room, no doubt where everyone will end up at.

“You know, it looks a lot nicer in here than I thought it would—wait that was rude of me, sorry.” Minseok sounds sheepish, Jongdae just laughs.

“They wanted it that way, it causes less suspicion and they don’t have to pay rent or anything like that.”

Jongin returns then, Sehun in tow and he feels Minseok stiffen next to him. Slowly, one by one the living room fills until almost everyone is present.

“We’re just waiting for Suho, he was going over some documents he should be done any second.” Yifan informs the group.

Small talk is made after that, Jongdae watches as Tao and Sehun stare down Minseok and he can feel how uncomfortable the prince is. Jongdae hooks their pinkies together, subtle enough to where no one would notice from their position.

Loud footsteps sound from the hallway and Jongdae can tell it’s Suho, living and being around someone for long enough has some advantages. It only takes seconds until Suho actually appears, waving at Jongdae and sitting next to Yifan.

Jongdae waves his hands at everybody, demanding their attention and everyone falls silent. Jongdae can hear his heartbeat in his ears, nerves getting to him and when he finally gains the courage to open his mouth he’s cut off, he barely contains his disdain until he hears what’s been said.

“J-Junmyeon?”


	2. ii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We—we’re going to have to kill them, aren’t we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> howdy, i know it's been almost a year since i updated the first chapter, but i've recently come back to this fic and hope to finish it ((eventually)). here's the second chapter that i have had sitting around for a really long time now!  
> i hope it doesn't disappoint and if you find any errors please let me know, i am awful at proofreading and can't concentrate for the life of me!
> 
> enjoy <3

The next few minutes pass by in a blur for Minseok. In one moment, he’s staring at his brother who he thought died sixteen years ago and in the next, he’s being dragged by his collar and slammed against the closest wall, face to face with the angry looking man who had been sitting next to his brother.

“How do you know that name?” He spits, Minseok recoils and accidentally slams his head against the wall in the process. The man, adjusts his grip, pulling tighter, almost choking him. “How do you know that name?” He asks again, quieter but still as harsh.

Minseok realizes how quiet it is, everyone’s eyes on them, including Jongdae who’s just standing right behind the man, fear swimming in his eyes, but not moving. Why wasn’t he doing anything?

 He lets out a whimper, he’s sure he looks pathetic right now, but he can’t bring himself to care.

“T-that’s my brother, please. He’s my brother.” He’s crying now, he knows it’s pointless to even think about fighting back. What’s the point? He was truly alone in this.

He lets the man take the hood and the bandana off, all he can do is stare at Junmyeon. “It’s the fucking crown prince.” He slams him against the wall again, Minseok tries to smother his cry.

“Yifan, let him go.” A hand is placed on his shoulder, Junmyeon looking anxiously between the two. The man—Yifan, lets him drop to the floor and Minseok immediately curls in on himself.

“Jongdae, explain yourself. Prince, come with me.” Junmyeon’s tone is sharp, it’s obvious there’s no room for discussion as he drags Minseok up to his feet and away from the living room.

Minseok lets himself be dragged up the stairs and down the hall, until they reach the last door on the left, his brother lets him go and nods, letting him go into the room first.

He sits in the armchair that’s in the corner of the room by the desk while Junmyeon sits on his bed, the air around them suffocating so much so that Minseok feels he may start hyperventilating any minute.

“I want you to tell me everything. What you know about me, your story, and why you think I’m your brother.” The words are sharp enough to put the hyperventilating on hold for now and he sits up a little straighter.

So, he tells him. He tells him about his brother and how it was his fault that they got caught by the bandits that day, he leaves the part about his parents out, it’s not important to tell him, not yet. He tells him facts that he can remember, his favorite color, his favorite book, birthday—anything that might ring a bell.

As he continues speaking, he feels himself getting more and more dejected. Suho, is really good at shuttering off his emotions, so if it really is his brother, if this really is Junmyeon he would’ve said something by now—right?

“Oh! I also have this picture.” He smooths over the crinkled edges and hands it over readily.

Minseok watches carefully as a small gasp leaves Suho lips. He runs his thumb over the side of the picture and then glances back at him. “Oh my god, that’s me.”

“That’s you, next to me.” He adds as an afterthought.

He flops back onto the bed, eyes straying between Minseok and the picture.

“If—If what you’re saying is true and that I am your brother, I think it might explain a lot about myself. But, I don’t remember you, or any part of my life before the age of ten.” Minseok feels like ice water has been dumped over his head, but it adds up and explains why Junmyeon didn’t react when his identity was revealed.

“Yifan is the only one who knows my real name, it’s why he reacted the way he did when you said it. I think—I think he knows who I truly am, his family was the one that took me in while I recovered from the accident.”

Junmyeon stares at him in wonder, laughter starts to bubble up in his throat, he feels so frayed at the edges that he probably looks hysterical as he begins to giggle to himself.

“Do you—” He lets out another giggle, “—believe me?” Junmyeon’s eyes are narrowed, clearly judging Minseok for his current state. He can’t really help himself though, he thinks, he’s a bit in shock and too overwhelmed, so it was either this or crying.

“For now,” Junmyeon nods and Minseok feels like he passed some sort of test that he didn’t know he was taking. “Let’s go save Jongdae from Yifan, I have a feeling the silence is not a good thing.”

Junmyeon pats his thigh, much like his father would, and stands. Minseok follows and hopes that Chen hasn’t met his untimely death.

-+-

“Jongdae, explain yourself. Prince, come with me.” Suho drags Minseok out of the room and Jongdae realizes belatedly that he did nothing to protect Minseok after he said he would.

He faintly hears the door to Suho’s room slam shut, feeling tense, he glances around the room. For the most part, Yifan is the only one who looks outwardly angry and he can deal with that, he’s been on the end of that angry stare for years now. He only hopes the rest will be understanding.

“I couldn’t kill him, it’s like he wanted to die.” He gets several looks for that and he shrugs his shoulders, he may be the person who was sent to kill Minseok, but he’s not completely heartless.

“Wouldn’t that technically, make your job easier?” Tao points out and Jongdae sighs. “Yes, _but—”_

“No buts! He should be dead.”

“As I was saying,” Jongdae continues, sending a pointed glare in Yifan’s direction, who’s still mumbling under his breath. “I don’t kill innocent people, Minseok is innocent. He has been wronged by the king and queen just as much as we have. I only ask that you tolerate him, I know you don’t trust him, but I do. Just please, for me, at least tolerate him.”

The room is silent, save for the distant sounds of the bustle of the townsfolk outside. He tries to make eye contact with everyone, to show how serious he is about this— _how serious he is about Minseok._  

He needs them to trust him for all of this to work.

Jongin’s the first to speak up and Jongdae’s heart feels warm, he knows he can always count on his brother. “If you trust him hyung, then so do I.”

Sehun nods his agreement and he thanks his lucky stars that Sehun has such a close relationship with his brother. Yixing is the next one that agrees, then Luhan. Jongdae’s shoulders sag in relief, at least he had some of them on his side.

The only ones who remained were Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Tao, Kyungsoo, and Yifan. That’s fine, he just needed some people on his side, he could convince the others later. Yifan, obviously would be the hardest one to convince, considering he looks like he wants to strangle him right now. But, if Minseok’s talk went well, he can call in the cavalry (the cavalry being Suho because Yifan is _whipped_ ).

Suho and Minseok choose then to enter the living room and Jongdae notes that the prince looks a bit more relaxed.

“So,” Suho claps, drawing the attention towards him, “if Minseok is going to be staying with us, we need to teach him how to fight.” Jongdae smiles as Minseok’s eyes widen and Kris let’s out some disgruntled sound.

“We’ll set up a schedule, for now I assume Jongdae said his piece, so meeting’s done.”

Before anybody can come up to either of them, Jongdae grabs Minseok’s hand and drags them out of the house swiftly. Minseok giggles behind him and he feels some of the weight fall off his shoulders.

He holds on to his hand, until they make it to his house. It’s a smaller house, one his parents and his brother used to live in before his parents passed away, now it housed only him and Jongin, when the younger actually wanted to come home of course.

Once they’re tucked inside, away from the prying eyes of the town, Jongdae clasps his hands over Minseok’s cheeks, and scans over his whole body, looking for injuries.

“I’m sorry.” Jongdae apologizes once he sees no clear indication he’s been harmed in any way. Minseok waves him off, a goofy smile on his face. Jongdae frowns, jutting out his bottom lip.

“No seriously, Kris was being an asshole and I didn’t stop him from being an asshole to you and—” Minseok laughs, shutting Jongdae up.

“I admit I was a little, hurt? By the way you handled the situation, but I can understand why you didn’t move to help me.” Minseok shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal and Jongdae feels like an even bigger asshole.

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t forgive me so easily. I should’ve done more to protect you.” Jongdae quietly admits. Minseok cups his face, making Jongdae face him.

“Jongdae—can I call you that?” He nods, the movement barely noticeable with the grip he has on his face. “Jongdae, you unknowingly brought me to be reunited with my brother, who I thought was dead. Sure, I was a little hurt, but I am in no way, mad at you.”

The sincerity shines through in his eyes and Jongdae’s breathing hitches as Minseok brings the pads of his thumbs to rub against his cheekbones. He watches as Minseok’s gaze finds its way towards his mouth and he can feel his throat go dry at the thought of kissing the prince. Minseok seems to mull the thought over before moving his mouth closer to Jongdae’s.

The sound of a key unlocking the front door snaps Jongdae out of his trance. He pushes Minseok, causing the poor prince to trip over the arms of the couch and he ends up face-planting into the cushions. Jongdae fights a blush as he hears the door swing open and he tries to make himself look like he was busy.

“Hyung! I’m home!” Jongin drags out the ‘e’ and Jongdae pretends to be shocked, acting as if he didn’t already know that.

“What? My brother, is actually gracing me with his presence?” Jongin pouts and smacks Jongdae in the chest in retaliation.

“Why are you red—you know what, I don’t want to know. Come help me make dinner, hyung.” Jongin says, pausing only to glance at him, then making his way towards the kitchen and Jongdae finally notices the bags Jongin was carrying around his wrist.

Jongdae bites his lip and glances back at Minseok, who’s now turned himself around and staring at the ceiling with a dazed expression. He turns and follows his brother quickly to the kitchen, ready to take the distraction for what it is and hopes it stops his mind from wandering to thoughts of a certain prince.

-+-

The next few days were, an experience to say the least. He was not only thrust into training, he was also constantly seeking the approval of Jongdae’s friends. It was stressful, the ones who disapproved of him were constantly watching him just waiting for him to mess up and the ones who approved just stood by and watched it happen.

Which, that’s fair, but if they could just distract each other once in a while so he could breathe it would be appreciated.

By the end of the week he felt he was making no progress and it was only confirmed when he overheard one of their conversations.

“He’s trying too hard, I still find him suspicious.” He hears Kris’ voice rattle around in his head as he lunges towards the tree he was using for target practice.

He had mainly been working with a sword, he was fairly proficient with a bow and arrow already due to his father forcing lessons upon him for years, but the type of battle they would be going into was definitely one to be fought in close quarters and he was pretty useless with a sword if he was being honest.

He grunts as he stops for a second, only to go through the motions that he had been taught, he knows the others were trying to overload him with information, but he’s always been proud of the fact that he can adapt quickly, but before he can start for a third time a voice calls out to him.

“Hyung!” Jongin’s voice causes his movements to halt and he glances over at the younger boy, who’s waving frantically as if Minseok can’t see him in the open yard.

He had gotten comfortable enough with Jongin, mainly because he was living with him and Jongdae. That, and the younger often came to him asking if Minseok could cook for him. He loved doting on the younger boy, so he really had no problem doing it, Jongin was like the younger brother he never had.

“Hyung.” Jongin says again, startling him from how fast the boy managed to get over to where Minseok was.

“What do you need, Jongin?” It had come out a bit ruder than he had intended and Minseok rushed to clarify that he wasn’t annoyed with the younger, Jongin just laughed and waved off his apologies.

“You need to widen your legs a bit with your stance, it’ll help you swing easier.” Minseok lets himself be maneuvered into the right position and tries to commit it to memory, so he can practice it more efficiently when he’s alone.

“Oh, another thing. We’re having a family dinner tonight, you’re invited.” Jongin tells him, smile blinding.

Minseok can feel his shoulders hunching automatically, trying to make himself look smaller. It was a defense mechanism he learned living in the castle, it was probably the easiest way to show that he was uncomfortable.

“Oh, um, I don’t know if I should go? I would hate to intrude, I’m definitely not family.” The laugh he gets in response causes his shoulders to hunch further.

“Minseok,” Jongin drops the formalities, shocking Minseok to look him in the eyes. “You may not believe this, but to me and Jongdae, you’re family. Hell, you’re even related to Suho hyung by blood. The others are…they’re a little harsh, yes, but you are family to us whether they like it or not.”

Minseok found himself getting choked up a bit on Jongin’s words, wondering how he felt more at home with those two than he ever did in the castle. Once he nods his head, stating that he’ll be there he can’t find it in him to practice anymore.

He trudges back towards the house and contemplates all the ways he can drown himself in the shower so he doesn’t have to suffer through this dinner. He makes sure to bathe quickly; hot water ran out rather quickly in these parts and he would feel bad if the actual people who lived in this home couldn’t take a warm shower as well.

As he slipped into borrowed clothes, he couldn’t help but blush. After the first night he came to the rather startling conclusion that him and Jongdae were about the same size and could share clothes while he was here. That being said, Jongdae took it upon himself to give him a bunch of clothes to wear and needless to say, Minseok turned into a mess every time he put new clothes on.

They always just smelled like him and it always made him look like a fool, red-faced and unable to make direct eye contact with the younger until he gets over it.

He acknowledges that there’s something there. Jongdae manages to mess with his feelings in every way, not to mention that he already almost kissed him.

He wants to blame it on the excitement of knowing his brother was alive, but that was really just fuel on an already burning fire.

“Minseok!” A hand appears in his line of vision, startling him into looking at the owner of said hand. Jongdae stands in front of him, a pout on his pink lips, that he has to physical restrain himself from staring at for too long.

“Are you ready for the dinner? Jonginnie told me you didn’t want to go, but don’t worry I’ll make sure they don’t give you any shit.” He rambles, a small smile slowly forming on his face.

Minseok can’t help his giggle at the cute expression and nods. “It’s okay, I can’t exactly blame them for not wanting to warm up to me right away. I know I’m not making the most progress, but I’ll keep trying!”

Jongdae’s face turns impossibly soft as he smiles, Minseok pretends not to notice his rapidly beating heart and lets Jongdae lead the way towards the others home.

He still finds it uncomfortable to be out in public without something covering his face, he knows that most of the people here hate him and his family, so he grabs the scarf he purchased earlier that week and wraps it so it covers most of his distinguishing features.

The curious glances died down after the first two days, save for the kids who still came up and asked them questions every now and then, Minseok being the weak person he was, could never deny them answers (though most of them were half-truths about himself).

The usual boisterous noises of the house greeted the pair and Minseok found himself growing fond of the noise. Growing up in isolation was quiet and lonely, even if he didn’t quite fit in with these people he felt more comfortable than he had in a long time.

The noise doesn’t completely die when the others take notice of him and he feels a bit of the nervousness he was feeling dissipate, it was truly the small victories.

He takes a seat next to Sehun, the youngest being another one he loved to dote on. The younger seemed shy at first, but often times he found him lounging at Jongdae’s when the others weren’t around and whining about something the other members did that he found annoying.

It was an interesting start to a friendship to say the least.

“Minseok hyung, I’m glad you came tonight.” Sehun gives him a sweet smile, Minseok ruffles his hair, with a gummy smile of his own.

The food was nothing fancy, but still managed to taste amazing and the conversation seemed to flow smoothly, until Chanyeol brought up something that had Minseok choking on his food.

Sehun rubs his back until he’s no longer red-faced and breathing properly and he shoots him a grateful look.

“You’re an Elemental user?” He blurts out, he winces when he gets a look from Chanyeol. He couldn’t help it, he was excited, he read so many books about the Elements and the people who could wield them, but to find a wielder was rare.

He tried to ignore the fact that the rest of the members were now silent and watching the two of them closely. “Can I ask you about it?”

Several emotions flit over Chanyeol’s face until he seems to settle with thinly veiled hesitation, but nods anyways. Minseok must have stars in his eyes as he babbles the rest of the dinner away asking all the questions he can think of. The taller only lets out a startled laugh at first, but answers all of Minseok’s questions willingly and even shows his Element (which happens to be fire) to him.

By the end of the night Chanyeol seems to be more comfortable and even promises to show him more of his Element the next time they train together and Minseok leaves with a lighter heart.

What he didn’t know that with Chanyeol came Baekhyun, they were a package deal after all.

Maybe he was making more progress than he thought.

-+-

Jongdae snickers into his hand as he watches Minseok screaming in victory once he realizes that he knocked Jongin’s sword out of his hand.

He continues to watch in amusement as the scream he lets out attracts the attention of the other members and soon Minseok is at the bottom of fairly large dog pile.

He shakes his head at the group, but slowly makes his way over to the pile, struggling to keep his face neutral when he hears Minseok let out a breathy giggle from where he was located.

“Yah, get off of him you animals!” Jongdae makes to kick at the pile, causing Baekhyun (who happened to be at the top of the pile) to squeal and fall. The rest of them follow suit and Minseok manages to shoot him a grateful smile, that has his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

They sit and chat for a little while, all taking a much needed break until one look from Yifan has them scrambling back to their trainings.

Jongdae frowns when he notices that Yifan’s glare lingers longer on Minseok than it did the others. In the whole two weeks that Minseok had been a part or their group he hoped that Yifan would warm up eventually, it looks like he would have to talk to Suho soon.

He grabs Minseok’s hand before anybody else can take him away and whisks him away from the twin pouts that Chanyeol and Baekhyun are sporting.

“I figured, since you’ve been focusing on working with Jongin on the sword I could help with hand to hand combat. I’m not the best, I’m more stealth than anything, but I am second behind Tao.”

“I’m excited for you to teach me, Dae.” The nickname has his heart skipping a beat, but he doesn’t let his thoughts linger on it for too long, training is priority at this moment.

He goes through the stances first, those being the most important to get down, if Minseok didn’t have them right he might not be able to defend himself properly and end up injuring himself in the process.

Minseok copies him carefully and Jongdae eyes him critically, pointing out his mistakes when he can see them and Minseok, the quick learner that he is, adjusts and moves on to whatever is next with ease.

As Minseok becomes more familiar with the moves, they slowly begin integrating their practice within Tao’s, so he can begin using his training on an actual person.

By the end of the day they’re both sweaty and tired, and Jongdae has seen the prince lift his shirt to wipe his face only to reveal his toned stomach enough times that he wants to bash his head against the nearest wall.

He doesn’t think his heart would be able to handle a fully shirtless Minseok.

_But_ , he thinks, _if that’s how I go then that’s how I go._

It isn’t until later, when he’s pulled aside by Suho that Jongdae knows he’ll be in for an interesting conversation. He eyes the décor wearily as he sits on Suho’s bed, Suho having taken the desk chair.

“So, what are your intentions with my little brother?”

Jongdae is sure his eyes almost pop out of their sockets and he can feel his whole body tense.

“Really, you’re doing the overprotective older brother thing, now?” Jongdae asks, once his shock wears off. Suho just shrugs his shoulders, a sly smirk adorned on his face.

After a few beats of silence Jongdae speaks up again. “I may, be interested in your brother in a more than platonic way.”

“No.” Suho gasps dramatically, Jongdae rolls his eyes in retaliation, but does little to hide his smile. “Anyways, if you do pursue him in anyway romantically, I give you my full blessing. You make him happy.”

Jongdae puffs his chest out, happy to have the acceptance he wasn’t even searching for, but is glad to take.

“Can I ask you something?” Jongdae starts, the mood seems to shift and Suho sits up a bit straighter. “Do you remember anything about him?”

Suho’s fingers begin to tap a random beat onto the top of his desk, a thoughtful expression on his face.

“I don’t remember anything, monumental.” He admits slowly. Jongdae stays mum, not knowing whether that’s a good thing or not. “However, sometimes I do get flashes—things that feel familiar. It is like my body is familiar with him, but my mind is still trying to catch up.”

“There’s one memory that had come to me after he told me that he thought I was his brother. It was of us when we were younger, Minseok told me that I would be the best king because I was the best brother.” There’s a bit of a wistful look on his face now, as he fiddled with his fingers and Jongdae suddenly felt bad for asking.

“He’s my baby brother, I love him. I may never fully remember our time together as children, but I want to make new memories with him. I want to be a good brother to him now, as I can’t change what happened to us in the past.” He says firmly.

Jongdae stands and squeezes Suho’s shoulder. “You’re already being a good brother to him hyung, you should tell him your thoughts sometime, he would enjoy hearing them.”

“You’re good for him, Jongdae, please don’t forget that.”

-+-

Minseok knew it was a bad idea to go out without having something to cover his face, he knew this. But it was dark out and he figured nobody would be able to tell it was him anyways and he could use some fresh air.

He left a note for Jongdae just in case he came looking for him and slipped out into the dark streets of the village.

It’s a cooler night out, one that makes him grateful for the long sleeves he’s wearing and he tugs them down so he can grip the sleeves in his hand. The streetlamps are far and few in between, so the streets were relatively dark.

His steps are quiet, not that it seems to make much of a difference, most of the people out are too drunk to spare him a glance, more focused on making it home in one piece.

At least that’s what he thought—more like hoped—they were focused on.

As he rounds the corner to move onto another street, a hand clasps his shoulder and immediately he freezes.

“Strange, to finally see the man who always hides without his scarf on.”

Minseok feels his heartrate increase, only glancing over his shoulder at the man who stopped him and mentally going through the steps Jongdae and Tao taught him.

“You look familiar. Almost like—"

“Please remove your hand from my shoulder.” Minseok cuts him off not really wanting to hear who he reminded this man of. His voice rings out steady as he looks the man in his eye, only for a second before he turns around and shrugs the man’s hand off his shoulder.

Before he can think twice about it he breaks into a full sprint, hoping the man doesn’t think he’s worth it to chase after him. He runs for a couple of blocks and when he thinks he hears footsteps chasing him over his breathing, he wills his legs to move faster.

For a second time that night, a hand clamps down over his shoulder. He lets out a yelp and lets his body move on its own accord. He pivots his body and brings his fist crashing down on what he hopes is his assailants face.

Pain shoots through his hand, but he decides it’s worth it when the person in front of him lets out a pained grunt. He makes the move to sidestep this person and just run back home, but he pauses only to catch a glimpse of who it could be.

“Kris?”

Sure enough, the tall man is there cradling his jaw and Minseok instantly feels guilty.

“I’m so sorry! It’s just there was this man and he was just touching me and I didn’t like it and I thought you were him.” He’s blabbering he knows but he couldn’t help it, even if the man has been cold he had never wanted to hurt him.

“I know, I saw. Don’t worry about the guy I took care of him.” Minseok is momentarily shocked by the seemingly friendly words coming from the taller, which is why he isn’t put off by the next thing the giant says.

“What were you thinking? Walking around by yourself in the dark like this without someone with you or covering your face? You could have been killed.” He hisses and Minseok feels a little guilty.

He knew it wasn’t the best idea to sneak out tonight, but he didn’t think he was going to run into that much trouble.

“Well, judging by your face I can defend myself at least.” He tries to joke, the glare he receives is warranted, he thinks.

“Judging by your hand, you still have a long way to go before you can defend yourself without also taking yourself down.” Kris spits back and well—that’s fair.

He shrugs and the pair of them fall into silence. Kris turns them back towards the town and Minseok allows himself to fall into step with the taller man.

“Thank you, for keeping Junmyeon safe all these years.” His words cause Kris’ movements to become jerky for a second before he corrects them.

“I don’t think…I don’t know if I’ve been keeping him the safest, but I’ve tried my best.” Kris murmurs after some time.

“You’ve done more than what I was ever able to do for him, I’m glad he ended up with you.” Minseok tells him, the familiar feeling of guilt rearing up.

Kris glances down at him, the smile he gives in return is shaky at best.

“I’m not going to take him away from you, you know? I’m grateful knowing he’s alive and happy and he’s happy here with you.”

Minseok clamps his mouth shut, hoping he doesn’t embarrass himself further, glancing at the storefronts and homes instead of the taller man.

He doesn’t see the softening look the taller seems to be giving him.

The rest of the walk is mainly in silence and he’s ready to break off from Kris and head back to Jongdae’s house when he’s once again manhandled into the direction of Kris’.

“Yixing should still be up and he needs to look at your hand as well as my face.”

Kris’ assumption seems to be correct as Yixing is the first person they see once they step into the house. He takes one glance at Kris’ jaw and Minseok’s hand and a small smile appears on his face.

“I don’t want to know what happened, but Kris you probably deserved it.” Minseok giggles and Yixing has a small smile on his face when he gingerly takes his injured hand into his own.

Kris pouts—like bottom lip jutting out, wide eyes, the whole package—and Minseok is a bit stunned to see him acting in such a childish way.

Yixing works diligently, cleaning the blood off his split knuckles and scolding him for improper punching technique and how he’s lucky that his hand wasn’t broken. Yixing just take a quick glance on the bruise now forming on Kris’ face and pats it gently, telling him to ice it if he wants the bruise to go away faster.

“Stay on the couch, it’s late.” Kris says after Yixing kicked the pair of them out of his room.

Suddenly hit with fatigue, he’s grateful for not being forced to walk the five minutes back to Jongdae’s. Kris hands him a spare blanket and he takes it gratefully, hitting the couch, and passing out.

All hell seems to break loose the next morning in the form of Jongdae and Jongin.

The front door almost being kicked off its hinges and a loud panicked “Minseok hyung is gone!” is all anybody in the house hears before shouts break out all over the house.

Minseok would have found it funny honestly if Jongdae and Jongin hadn’t sounded so distraught. He shares a look with Yixing, who’s sipping his tea trying to hide his giggles and its Kris, grumpy and still half asleep, who kindly informs them that Minseok is alive and well and _not_ missing, just in the kitchen.

The pair runs into the kitchen and sandwiches Minseok in between them blubbering nonsense about never leaving them ever again.

Minseok laughs and points out that he left a note for them and when they fall quiet at that he laughs again.

He feels something akin to love for the first time in a very long time as warmth spreads throughout his whole body.

-+-

The months seem to gather and stack up as they continue to train and gather allies, preparing for a fight that is sure to be a gruesome one. It was closer to six months, since Jongdae had returned home with the prince and despite the progress being made in other aspects, the group still hadn’t come up with a solid plan on how to take out the King and Queen without potentially…killing them.

Minseok had turned a sickly shade of pale when they first suggested this and Suho had to escort him out of the room for a while. After that, the topic was broached less frequently, but the thought seemed to loom over them every discussion, never fully leaving any of their minds.

“We—we’re going to have to kill them, aren’t we?” Minseok asks one day while they’re in the middle of cooking and Jongdae hears his neck pop with the force as his head snaps to look at his friend.

“Um,” Jongdae sets the knife on the counter and quickly ushers Minseok into one of the chairs they have around their dining table. He knows that Minseok already knows the answer as he watches the prince’s shoulders shake.

“Just, I don’t want to see it when it happens, okay?” He’s still shaking and Jongdae doesn’t know what to say, he goes for a hug and lets Minseok cling to him until his back aches.

Slowly, they go back to preparing their meal. Dinner is a quiet that night.

The next day Jongdae takes Yifan aside and tells him Minseok’s choice.

“That’s going to be our worst-case scenario, okay? I know he gave his consent, but that doesn’t make it any less okay, we don’t want to hurt him without having to.” Bushy eyebrows furrowed, Yifan looked angrier than normal, Jongdae knew it was because he was thinking.

At Jongdae’s questioning glance Yifan smiles, “He’s family now, family don’t hurt family.”

Jongdae watches Minseok carefully, the elder’s expression was carefully blank all day and he can’t help but worry. He’s never seen the prince so closed off from the world.

He holes himself up in Suho’s room and Jongdae is found staring pitifully at the door more than once.

“Hyung,” It was Sehun that caught him this time, Jongade jumps not expecting to hear the younger’s voice. “He needs his space. We all know you want to see him, but he’ll come out when he’s ready.”

Jongdae sniffs and thinks Sehun sounds older and wiser than his age.

“When did you grow up, Sehunnie?”

“Around the fourth time Luhan hyung caught you staring at Suho hyung’s closed door.” Sehun snickers as Jongdae physically restrains himself from putting the little brat into a headlock.

His restraint finally crumbles a little past midnight, only having seen the prince in the morning and the short walk back to their place before he locked himself in his own room for the night.

He knocks on the door, strong and firm, before opening the door hesitantly only to find Minseok bundled up underneath of the blankets, eyes closed. Jongdae sighs, feet padding quietly over and resting a hand gently on the prince’s forehead, brushing the hair from his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He murmurs, running his thumb along his hairline.

Minseok’s eyes shoot open and Jongdae lets out a yelp, withdrawing his hand and resting it over his heart instead. Minseok doesn’t say anything, just takes Jongdae’s free hand and tugs him onto the bed.

Jongdae follows without complaint, only pausing to give Minseok a chance to move over so he’s not squishing him.

They both take a chance to get comfortable, Minseok pressing into his side and head resting on his shoulder. Jongdae brings his free hand up to run his fingers through the dark strands.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

A small shake of his head and that’s it. The room is enveloped in silence and when Jongdae glances at Minseok again, the older has his eyes closed with his face pressed into his neck.

“Love you, Jongdae.” A combination of the words and where they were mumbled cause goosebumps to rise on his skin.

Jongdae clears his throat, the vibration from his throat causing a small noise to escape Minseok’s mouth.

“Love you too, hyung.” A different noise this time, one that sounds more content.

Jongdae waits until Minseok falls lax, breathing evening out and prays for his rapid beating heart to not to wake the boy next to him as he snuggles closer to Minseok and allows himself to fall asleep.

-+-

“I meant it you know.” Minseok tells Jongdae the next morning, Jongdae gives a noncommittal hum, focusing more on the cereal in front of him than the conversation.

“I love you, but like I want to hold hands and kiss, you know?” Minseok winces as Jongdae begins choking on his cereal.

Maybe he should’ve tried a more subtle approach? He’s never confessed to somebody before, but Baekhyun told him to just go for it and now Jongdae’s about to choke and possibly die on his breakfast.

It takes a couple of seconds for Jongdae to get back to normal, but by the time he is Minseok has already shrunk in on himself, trying to get his face schooled into a more nonchalant expression, but making no attempt at fleeing as much as he wants to.

Jongdae’s hand slams on the table as he stands to his full height, leaning over into Minseok’s space.

The kiss they share is sweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so,,, if you can't tell i may have given up a bit on this fic,, but i got a second wind after rereading everything i had written for it and kind of fell in love with the plot again. 
> 
> thank you for reading! ;;
> 
> if you have any thoughts you can find me here on [twitter](https://twitter.com/tiramiseos) or here on my [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/johnnyseojpg)


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